Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Medalists

Each June, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Centennial Medal, first awarded in 1989 on the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of the...

Each June, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Centennial Medal, first awarded in 1989 on the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of the school’s founding, honors alumni who have made contributions to society that emerged from their graduate study at Harvard. This year’s honorands are, from left, Nobel Prize-winner and former Faculty of Arts and Sciences dean A. Michael Spence, Ph.D. ’72, a leader in both economics and higher-education administration; MIT professor Michael Artin, Ph.D. ’60, an architect of the modern approach to algebraic geometry; Elaine H. Pagels, Ph.D. ’70, an expert on the origins of Christianity; and Nobel Prize-winner H. Robert Horvitz, Ph.D. ’74, a molecular biologist who has done foundational work in the study of cell apoptosis. 

Photograph by Jim Harrison

Most popular

All That’s Unseen charts the Harvard graduate’s uneasy journey from Appalachia to Cambridge and back.  

Before a data center is built, Francesca Dominici and Le Xie aim to predict costs to the grid, the air, and the neighbors next door.

Singer Elisa Smith’s whiskey-soaked voice and subversive feminism is part of the genre’s urban shift.

Explore More From Current Issue

A woman with long hair stands confidently with crossed arms next to a pickup truck.

All That’s Unseen charts the Harvard graduate’s uneasy journey from Appalachia to Cambridge and back.  

Two colorful octopuses swim among vibrant coral and sea life in a lively underwater scene.

New Harvard research finds octopuses go beyond sight and touch to find mates.

A profile illustration of a man surrounded by colorful, whimsical text in multiple languages.

For both American and international students, growing up is like learning a new language.